Fahey gets payback for loyalty

Ribchester really caught the eye in the Locking Stakes at Newbury on Saturday, winning the race very impressively under a very positive ride from William Buick.

It was a tremendous achievement from Richard Fahey who has trained the colt since his two- year- old days when he was owned by David Armstrong before being sold to mighty Godolphin.

It would have been an easy option for the boys in blue to transfer the horse to be trained by either Saeed bin Suroor or Charlie Appleby but they stuck with Richard and it paid off in spades.

Wins in the Group 2 Dubai Duty Free Stakes at Newbury, the Group 3 Jersey Stakes at Royal Ascot, a Group 1 at Deauville and now the Group 1 Lockinge plus some decent places, have returned some £ 1.5 million in prize- money and at only four there will be many more riches plundered in the future.

Buick had to adopt a plan B after his pacesetter Toscanini missed the break and his rider Paul Hanagan wisely elected not to bustle his mount into the race.

Top priced 2- 1 for the Queen Anne at Royal Ascot next month, Ribchester will be very hard to beat this season and it’s great to see a trainer like Fahey known for quantity of horses now having some real quality.